A mutated version of a coronavirus strain showed a 100% kill streak potential in "humanized" mice. The deadly virus could reportedly kill an infected mice within a week or eight days.
Coronavirus Strain GX_P2V Virus Is Deadly, Experts Say
In a new study, a 100% kill streak mutant strain of COVID-19 is being tested by Chinese scientists on "humanized" mice. The fatal virus, dubbed GX_P2V, targeted the brains of mice whose genetic composition was designed to resemble that of humans.
"This underscores a spillover risk of GX_P2V into humans and provides a unique model for understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of SARS-CoV-2-related viruses," the authors wrote.
Three years before the pandemic, in 2017, Malaysian pangolins were revealed to have had a modified strain of GX/2017, a coronavirus relative.
Within eight days, all of the infected mice perished from the virus, a "surprisingly" quick death rate, according to the researchers.
The dead mice had lungs, bones, eyes, tracheas, and brains infected with GX_P2V; the last infection was so severe that it ultimately resulted in the animals' deaths.
The mice had rapidly lost weight, adopted a stooped posture, and walked incredibly slowly in the days leading up to their deaths.
Most ominously, the day before they passed away, their eyes went entirely white.
The research, albeit horrifying, is the first of its kind to document a death rate of one hundred percent in mice infected with the COVID-19-related virus, much exceeding previously published findings from a different study, the authors stated.
More significantly, it is unclear from the study's results how it might affect people.
Experts React To The Current Study
However, some experts raised concerns with the study. One couldn't find the significance of "force-infecting a weird breed of humanised mice with a random virus." Francois Balloux, an epidemiology expert at the University College London's Genetics Institute, seemingly criticized the study calling it "terrible" and "scientifically totally pointless."
"The preprint does not specify the biosafety level and biosafety precautions used for the research," he added.
"The absence of this information raises the concerning possibility that part or all of this research, like the research in Wuhan in 2016-2019 that likely caused the Covid-19 pandemic, recklessly was performed without the minimal biosafety containment and practices essential for research with potential pandemic pathogens."
Professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Ruger's University Richard H. Ebright shared Balloux's sentiment. Dr. Gennadi Glinsky, a retired professor of medicine at Stanford, also reacted to the same issue on X, formerly Twitter.
According to Glinsky, the madness must be stopped before it is too late. She added that SARS-CoV-2-related pangolin coronavirus GX_P2V(short_3UTR) could 100% kill human ACE2-transgenic mice due to late-stage brain infection.
SARS-CoV-2-related pangolin coronavirus GX_P2V(short_3UTR) can cause 100% mortality in human ACE2-transgenic mice, potentially attributable to late-stage brain infection.
— Dr. Gennadi Glinsky, MD, Ph.D. (@gglinskii) January 15, 2024
The 2024 study does not appear to be associated with the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, the epicenter of lab leak theories concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.
Over the summer, US intelligence services did not rule out the potential that the virus originated from a different source, but they did not find any concrete proof that the lab spilled the coronavirus.
It still remains unknown where COVID-19 originated.
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